Rename text files based on multiple strings in their contents

Question

Firstly, there are a couple of similar questions on here to this (Rename file based on file Content batch file being the one I have tried to work an answer from - but I have no real clue what I'm doing), however I cannot find anything that meets my exact needs, and this is my first real foray into batch programming so the syntax is fairly new to me.

The question:

I have several hundred text files, with different names, where the header is formatted like so:

"Event Type : Full Histogram"
"Serial Number : xxxxxx"
"Version :  V 10.60-8.17 "
"File Name : W133FA0Z.580H"
"Histogram Start Time : 12:39:08"
"Histogram Start Date : 2014-04-11"

I would like if possible to create a batch file to rename all the files in the folder to the format of:

StartDate StartTime

so for this example:

2014-04-11 12:39:08

My problems lie in the fact I'm not sure how to actually point it to where to find the string if it was for just one line (I've tried editing the answers in the question I posted above). And, futhermore, I have no idea how to add a second bit of code to find the StartTime string and then append that to the StartDate.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

You cannot include `:` in file names. You will need to substitute some other character. Perhaps `-` or `.` — dbenham, Apr 15 '14 at 23:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 16 '14 at 02:21

Here is a very efficient method.

@echo off
pushd "pathToYourFolderContainingFilesToRename"
for /f "tokens=1,3 delims=:" %%A in (
  'findstr /bc:^"\"Histogram Start Date :" *.txt'
) do for /f delims^=^"^  %%C in (
  "%%B"
) do for /f tokens^=4-6^ delims^=^":^  %%D in (
  'findstr /bc:^"\"Histogram Start Time :" "%%A"'
) do ren "%%A" "%%C %%D.%%E.%%F.txt"
popd

The 1st loop serves two purposes. It establishes file names that contain the start date string, as well as also returning the date string for each file.

The 2nd loop strips out spaces and quotes from the date string.

The 3rd loop parses out the start time from the file.

The 2nd and 3rd loops have very awkward syntax to enable including a quote in the list of delimiters. The 2nd loop sets DELIMS to a quote and a space. The 3rd set DELIMS to quote, colon, and a space.

This works perfectly! And I think I, more or less, understand what's going on as well so can adapt for future needs. Thanks very much for the explanation. — holmes321, Apr 17 '14 at 09:10

unclemeat · Answer 2 · 2014-04-16T01:52:33.527

The following will get the output you want, where the output will look like 2014-04-11 123908.

@echo off

set file=test.txt

for /f "delims=: tokens=2-4" %%a in ('find "Time" %file%') do set ftime=%%a%%b%%c
for /f "delims=: tokens=2"   %%a in ('find "Date" %file%') do set fdate=%%a

echo %fdate:~1,-1% %ftime:~1,-1%

If all the files are in the same directory, then you can simply do this in a another for loop.

@echo off
setLocal enableDelayedExpansion
for /f %%f in ('dir C:\whatever\path\*.txt /B') do (    
    for /f "delims=: tokens=2-4" %%a in ('find "Time" %%a') do set ftime=%%a%%b%%c
    for /f "delims=: tokens=2"   %%a in ('find "Date" %%a') do set fdate=%%a
    ren "%%~a" "!fdate:~1,-1! !ftime:~1,-1!.txt"
)

This will rename all text files in a specified directory the date and time in their contents. Note that this does not account for text files that do not have the date and time in their contents. You can (and probably should) add that as you see fit.

The 2nd code can have inefficiencies, if not outright problems, where the same file is renamed twice. This is because the simple FOR command can begin the iterations before it finishes reading the entire directory, so it might pick up a renamed file. Better to use FOR /F with DIR /B in the outer loop - that will always buffer the entire command result before it begins iterating. — dbenham, Apr 16 '14 at 01:45

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 16 '14 at 01:43

Assuming you JUST have file formatted like in your description in the working directory :

@echo off&cls

setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

for %%x in (*.txt) do (
set /a $sw=1
for /f "skip=4 tokens=2-4 delims=:" %%a in ('type "%%x"') do (
if !$sw! equ 1 set $Time=%%a-%%b-%%c
if !$sw! equ 2 (
set $Date=%%a
call:DoRen !$Time:~1,-1! !$Date:~1,-1! %%~nx%%~xx)
set /a $sw+=1
)
)
exit/b

:DoRen

echo ren "%3" "%2 %1"

If the output is OK you can remove the echo

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 16 '14 at 02:44

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
DEL incorrectformat.log 2>nul
DEL alreadyprocessed.log 2>nul
SET "sourcedir=U:\sourcedir"
FOR /f "delims=" %%a IN ('dir /b /a-d "%sourcedir%\*.txt" ') DO (
 SET keepprocessing=Y
 SET "newname="
 FOR /f "tokens=1-5delims=:" %%b IN (
   'TYPE "%sourcedir%\%%a"^|findstr /n /r "$" ') DO IF DEFINED keepprocessing (
  IF %%b==1 IF NOT "%%~c"=="Event Type " SET "keepprocessing="&>>incorrectformat.log ECHO %%a
  IF %%b==5 SET newname=%%d%%e%%f
  IF %%b==6 (
   SET "keepprocessing="
   SET "newname=%%d!newname!.txt"
   SET "newname=!newname:"=!"
   SET "newname=!newname:~1!"
   IF "!newname!"=="%%a" (>>alreadyprocessed.log ECHO(%%a) ELSE (ECHO REN "%sourcedir%\%%a" "!newname!")
  )
 )
)

GOTO :EOF

Here's my version.

You'd need to set the value of sourcedir to your target directory. A list of files not matching the specified format is produced as incorrectformat.log A list of already-processed files is produced as alreadyprocessed.log

The required REN commands are merely ECHOed for testing purposes. After you've verified that the commands are correct, change ECHO REN to REN to actually rename the files.

Rename text files based on multiple strings in their contents

4 Answers4

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